Article transport apparatus and article transport facility

Abstract

An article transport apparatus includes a plurality of supports, a supporting rotator that rotatably supports the supports at a plurality of positions, a driving portion for rotating the supporting rotator, an attitude maintenance mechanism for keeping the plurality of supports in a constant attitude irrespective of a phase of the supporting rotator, an article carry-in portion for carrying an article into the support located at a first position, and an article carry-out portion for carrying an article out of the support located at a second position.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An article transport apparatus comprising:
 a plurality of supports for supporting an article; 
 a supporting rotator that can be rotated about a single main shaft and rotatably supports the supports at a plurality of positions located at an equal distance from the main shaft in a radial direction and arranged at equal intervals in a circumferential direction; 
 a driving portion for rotating the supporting rotator; 
 an attitude maintenance mechanism for keeping the plurality of supports in a constant attitude irrespective of a phase of the supporting rotator; 
 an article carry-in portion for carrying an article into the support located at a first position in the circumferential direction; and 
 an article carry-out portion for carrying an article out of the support located at a second position separate from the first position in the circumferential direction, 
 wherein the number of the supports provided is at least three, 
 wherein an article handling portion is further provided at which handling of an article supported by the support located at a third position separate from the first position and the second position in the circumferential direction is performed, and 
 wherein the first position, the second position, and the third position correspond to positions at which the three supports are arranged when the supporting rotator is at a specific phase. 
 
     
     
       2. The article transport apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the driving portion performs an intermittent action such that the rotation of the supporting rotator and a temporary suspension at the specific phase are repeated. 
     
     
       3. The article transport apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the first position, the third position, and the second position are located in this order from an upstream side toward a downstream side in a rotational direction of the supporting rotator. 
     
     
       4. The article transport apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the support is constituted by a basket-like body in which one end is open and that includes a bottom portion having a comb-like shape, and a lateral wall portion that is provided standing upright on a portion of the bottom portion that couples ends of comb teeth on a side opposite to the open end, 
 the article carry-in portion and the article carry-out portion are provided with a comb-like delivery portion at a position at which an article is delivered to/from the support, and 
 comb teeth of the delivery portions of the article carry-in portion and the article carry-out portion are arranged at positions corresponding to a plurality of gaps between the comb teeth of the bottom portion of the support in an axial direction of the main shaft. 
 
     
     
       5. The article transport apparatus according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein the article carry-in portion and the article carry-out portion are separately arranged in a vertical direction, and 
 wherein the delivery portion of one of the article carry-in portion and the article carry-out portion that is located on a lower side is configured to be capable of being tilted downward. 
 
     
     
       6. The article transport apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the attitude maintenance mechanism includes:
 a fixed gear that is fixed to a non-rotating member for rotatably supporting the supporting rotator and is concentric with the main shaft; 
 a movable gear that is axially rotatably supported by the supporting rotator and is revolved together with the supporting rotator in a state of meshing with the fixed gear; 
 a driving member that is coupled to the movable gear to be axially rotated together with the movable gear; 
 driven members that are coupled to rotation shafts of the plurality of supports; and 
 a drive transmission member that is wound around the driving member and the driven members. 
 
     
     
       7. An article transport facility comprising:
 two article transport apparatuses according to  claim 1 , the article transport apparatuses being arranged side-by-side, and 
 wherein, in each of the article transport apparatuses, the attitude maintenance mechanism is provided on a side opposite to the other article transport apparatus in a direction in which the article transport apparatuses are lined up. 
 
     
     
       8. An article transport apparatus comprising:
 a plurality of supports for supporting an article; 
 a supporting rotator that can be rotated about a single main shaft and rotatably supports the supports at a plurality of positions located at an equal distance from the main shaft in a radial direction and arranged at equal intervals in a circumferential direction; 
 a driving portion for rotating the supporting rotator; 
 an attitude maintenance mechanism for keeping the plurality of supports in a constant attitude irrespective of a phase of the supporting rotator; 
 an article carry-in portion for carrying an article into the support located at a first position in the circumferential direction; and 
 an article carry-out portion for carrying an article out of the support located at a second position separate from the first position in the circumferential direction, 
 wherein the attitude maintenance mechanism includes:
 a fixed gear that is fixed to a non-rotating member for rotatably supporting the supporting rotator and is concentric with the main shaft; 
 a movable gear that is axially rotatably supported by the supporting rotator and is revolved together with the supporting rotator in a state of meshing with the fixed gear; 
 a driving member that is coupled to the movable gear to be axially rotated together with the movable gear; 
 driven members that are coupled to rotation shafts of the plurality of supports; and 
 a drive transmission member that is wound around the driving member and the driven members.